Human composting of dead bodies may soon be legal in New Jersey

🔴 General Assembly passes bill to legalize human composting

🔴 Process costs thousands of dollars per individual

🔴 Experts have concerns that it's offensive to some cultures

New Jersey residents may soon be able to choose human composting after death, a new alternative to burial or cremation that turns their bodies into food for plants.

What is human composting?

Natural organic reduction, or human composting, is the "supervised decomposition" of a dead person, according to Samantha Minchello with the New Jersey State Funeral Directors' Association.

A dead person's body is placed into a large tank with other natural materials like wood chips and straw.

The end result is around one cubic yard of soil-like product that can be used to nourish plants and trees.

"Natural organic reduction offers consumers an alternative they may be attracted to because they find it environmentally friendly or conceptually appealing," Minchello said.

The process can take up to six months.

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And it could cost up to $7,000 per individual.

Is human composting legal in New Jersey?

New Jersey is on track to become the ninth state to legalize human composting.

A bill is moving through the state Senate (S3007) after it passed nearly unanimously in the General Assembly (A4085) in December.

Eight other states have passed legislation to legalize the process of turning dead bodies into soil.

Washington state was the first to make human composting legal in 2019. Most recently, Delaware also approved the practice last year.

Human composting is offensive to the Catholic Church

Many people have reservations about human composting, which is relatively new in the United States.

For example, the Catholic Church has said that natural organic reduction violates the dignity of the human body.

"There is nothing distinguishably left of the body to be placed in a casket or an urn and laid to rest in a sacred place where Christian faithful can visit for prayer and remembrance," the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine said.

More than 41% of New Jersey residents identify as Catholic, according to the New Jersey Provincial Directory.

Jim Koslovski, president of Rosedale and Rosehill Cemetery in Linden, said to state lawmakers that pushback to human composting could make it a niche option in the Garden State.

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